If you own—or plan to own—rental property, one of the first questions you should be asking is how to protect it. Not just from taxes, but from lawsuits, creditors, and avoidable estate-planning disasters.

For many investors, the Limited Liability Company (LLC) ends up being the best entity for real estate investments.

Done correctly, setting up an LLC for real estate is one of the most powerful moves investors and landlords can make. Used incorrectly, it can create a false sense of security and leave you exposed. The difference comes down to how you structure your business entity, where you form it, and how you operate it.

Before diving in, I recommend watching the full video guide that breaks this down step by step. It provides helpful visuals and examples that pair perfectly with what follows.

What Is an LLC?

An LLC is not a tax designation. It’s not something you “file with the IRS.” And despite what many people believe, there is no such thing as being “taxed as an LLC.”

An LLC is a creature of state law, not federal law. You create an LLC for landlords by filing formation documents with the state. The IRS then decides how to tax it based on ownership and elections, not because it’s an LLC.

Here’s how that works in practice:

• Single-owner LLC → ignored by default for federal tax purposes
  
• Multi-owner LLC → pays tax as a partnership by default
  
• Any LLC → can elect corporate taxation if appropriate

In most rental situations, a single-member LLC is treated as a pass-through entity by default—meaning the IRS ignores the LLC for income tax purposes and the activity flows onto your personal return. If you add owners, the default usually shifts to partnership treatment, and you still keep pass-through taxation unless you elect corporate treatment.

Takeaway: When it comes to LLC formations for real estate investors, the LLC handles liability and structure. Tax treatment is a separate decision.

Where Should You Set Up an LLC for Asset Protection on a Rental Property?

For most landlords, the answer is simple: Form the LLC in the state where the property is located.

Real estate is governed by state law. Courts care about where the dirt sits, not where your mailing address is.

That said, there are strategic exceptions—especially when privacy, asset protection, or outside liability is a concern. States like Wyoming and Nevada are commonly used for holding or management entities because they offer:

• Strong charging order protection
  
• Enhanced privacy
  
• Favorable asset protection statutes

But for a typical rental property, the operating LLC usually belongs in-state.

One important reality to keep in mind: Even when the property sits inside an LLC, lenders often require you to personally guarantee the loan—especially early on. That doesn’t erase the LLC’s protections, but it’s a reminder that entity structure and financing terms are two separate conversations.

Members vs. Managers: What Control Structure Are You Actually Choosing?

When you form an LLC, you’re not just picking a legal wrapper—you’re deciding who has authority to act, sign, and manage the business.

That raises a question most investors skip:

Are you setting up an LLC where the owners run everything (member-managed), or one where a designated manager controls decisions (manager-managed)?

Here’s why that matters:

• Members are the owners—similar to shareholders.
  
• Managers are the decision-makers—the people (or entities) authorized to run the LLC.

You can be both. Many investors are.

But if your name shows up as the member and manager in public records, you may be making it easier for someone to connect you to the property—and target you.

That’s why I often prefer manager-managed LLCs, especially when privacy, asset protection, and clean separation are the goals.

Here’s what an LLC offers rental property owners when it’s properly structured and operated.

What Are the 4 Core LLC Benefits for Rental Property Owners?

1. Inside Liability Protection

Inside liability protection isolates risk inside the property itself.

If a tenant slips and falls, alleges mold, or claims injury, the lawsuit stays contained. They sue the LLC—not you personally.

That means:

• Your wages aren’t garnished
  
• Your other properties aren’t exposed
  
• Your personal assets stay shielded

This is the foundation of how to protect assets from lawsuits as a real estate investor—by isolating risk so one incident doesn’t jeopardize everything you own.

For newer investors, I typically recommend one LLC per property when you’re in the 0–10 property range. Losing one property is painful. Losing everything is catastrophic.

2. Hybrid Tax Treatment

Flexibility is one of the biggest LLC tax benefits for landlords.

Depending on what you’re doing, the same LLC can be:

• Disregarded
  
• Treated as a partnership
  
• Taxed as a corporation

Rents from real estate are usually considered passive income by the IRS, which means disregarded or partnership treatment often makes sense. Active businesses—like flipping or wholesaling—often require corporate taxation.

The key is that the LLC entity structure stays the same. You simply choose the tax treatment that fits your activity.

3. Outside Liability Protection

Outside liability protection guards against your personal liabilities spilling into your investments.

If someone sues you personally—car accidents, professional liability, or catastrophic claims—you don’t want them taking your rental properties.

This is where holding structures and states like Wyoming shine. With proper charging order protection, creditors can’t seize your LLC interests. They’re often limited to distributions—if any are made at all.

That leverage alone frequently ends lawsuits before they begin.

4. Perpetual Existence & Estate Planning Power

LLCs don’t die when you do.

From an estate planning perspective, this is massive.

When properties are owned personally, each one can require probate in the state where it’s located. That’s expensive, slow, and unnecessary.

An LLC doesn’t own “real estate interests” the same way you do personally—you own a membership interest in the LLC, and that interest is treated like personal property.

This is one of the reasons LLCs integrate so well with living trusts and long-term planning.

How Do You Set Up LLC Protection for Rental Property (5 Steps)?

Step 1: Choose a Name and a State

You’ll file formation documents—often called Articles or a Certificate of Formation—with the Secretary of State.

Certain words are restricted. Names must be unique. Structure choices (member-managed vs. manager-managed) are made here.

This is not a place to guess. Learn how to choose the right name here.

Step 2: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) (IRS Form SS-4)

Obtaining an EIN requires you to register the LLC with the IRS for tax purposes.

You’ll designate:

• Ownership structure
  
• Tax classification

Single-member LLCs default to disregarded status. Multi-member LLCs default to partnerships unless elected otherwise.

Step 3: Draft a Real Operating Agreement

This is where most DIY investors get burned.

Your operating agreement governs:

• Management authority
  
• Voting rights
  
• Transfers
  
• Distributions
  
• Liability exposure

Generic templates often strip away asset protection for real estate investors that state law would otherwise provide automatically.

Courts will pierce the corporate veil of entities and won’t protect their business owners when they don’t take their business operations and status seriously.

Step 4: Comply with the Corporate Transparency Act

Under the Corporate Transparency Act, most LLCs must file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with FinCEN.

Key points:

• Filing deadlines are short
  
• Penalties can reach $500 per day
  
• The database is not public
  
• Filing with FinCEN does not destroy anonymity

Failing to comply is one of the fastest ways to create unnecessary problems.

Step 5: Open a Bank or Brokerage Account

The LLC must operate separately from you.

That means:

• Separate accounts
  
• Separate books
  
• Clean accounting

Many investors use a single bookkeeping system with classes to track multiple properties efficiently—saving time and money without sacrificing protection.

Bonus Strategy: How Do Land Trusts Protect Against Due-on-Sale Clauses?

Transferring ownership of a property into an LLC raises a common fear: due-on-sale clauses.

In practice, they are rarely enforced—but there’s a cleaner (and less risky) solution.

Using a land trust to hold title while assigning the beneficial interest to the LLC provides:

• Privacy
  
• Protection from transfer taxes in some states
  
• Cleaner asset separation
  
• Reduced risk of being the target of a lawsuit

Land trusts don’t require state filing, don’t file tax returns, and don’t trigger the same scrutiny as visible LLC ownership.

They exist solely to hold title—and they do that job extremely well.

Why Are Asset Protection Strategies All About Staying Off the Radar?

Lawsuits target perceived wealth, not just wrongdoing.

When investors look wealthy on paper—multiple properties titled in one LLC or personal name—they become attractive targets. The goal isn’t to hide assets illegally. It’s to avoid advertising them unnecessarily.

Empty pockets don’t get sued. Deep pockets do.

Savvy asset protection for a landlord means selecting the structure that keeps you protected before a problem ever arises.

What Are My Next Steps?

If you’re serious about protecting rental properties, reducing taxes, and building something that lasts, structure matters.

A properly designed LLC strategy can:

• Isolate liability
  
• Improve tax efficiency
  
• Protect against lawsuits
  
• Simplify estate planning
  
• Keep assets invisible to opportunistic claims

If you want help designing the right structure for your properties, income mix, and long-term goals, schedule a free 45-minute Strategy Session with an Anderson Advisors Senior Advisor.

We’ll walk through:

• Your current holdings
  
• Risk exposure
  
• Entity design options
  
• Tax optimization opportunities
  

The goal isn’t just protection—it’s preserving and compounding what you’ve already built.